South Atlanta, Jonesboro and Pebblebrook Celebrate 2023 Signing Day
On Wednesday, the 2023 National Signing Day was in full effect as student athletes across the country signed their National Letter of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers as their respective colleges and universities. And while many class of 2023 high school football recruits had signed their NLI’s back in December on the early signing day, Wednesday was still loaded with excitement of student athletes making their announcements.
In Georgia, schools all across the state held ceremonies as recruits put the pen to the paper and for the South Atlanta Hornets, Wednesday was not just a special moment for their six recruits that signed, the day was also historic for the Hornets’ program as it was the first time in program history that the school had six football players sign on signing day. “It’s just great for these young men to get some goo representation from this area of town (Cleveland Avenue), there’s always negative components and this is a positive. These kids are about to do things that have never been done in their family,” South Atlanta head coach, Mike Woolridge, said of his six players transitioning into their collegiate careers.
One of those players, running back Keyjuan Brown, who led the state in rushing the last two season, was on hand to sign his NLI to continue his career with the Louisville Cardinals. “It felt good knowing me and my partners, my teammates, my brothers for life signing and this is the first class that ever had more than one person sign so it was just a good week all around,” Brown said of the historic moment for the Hornets football program. “It feels good to have this moment and make my mom proud,” Brown’s teammate and Georgia Tech signee, Taye Seymore said of the South Atlanta signing day. “I’m going to college for free and I’m just ready to put in some work,” Seymore added.
South of Atlanta in Clayton County, the Jonesboro Cardinals football team celebrated four of their recruits signing their NLI, bringing their total number of signees to five so far this academic calendar and for head coach, DeTimothy Floyd, another year of seeing his players celebrate the special moment in their careers is one of the treasurable moments of coaching. “Watching them grow up from eighth graders to their signing day to graduation, it’s hard to walk away from,” Floyd said. And in Cobb County, the Pebblebrook Falcons had five players and their families walk across the stage on Wednesday to announce where they would be furthering their careers including wide receiver, CJ Adams Jr.
“I’m happy. I’m happy for me, I’m happy for my family, I’m happy for my friends and it gives my brother some lead way to show him that it’s really easy when you put your mind to it,” the South Carolina Gamecocks signee said of signing his NLI on Wednesday. Adams, a multisport athlete, credit all of his coaches for pushing him to achieve and reach his goals. “They all impacted my life in different ways,” Adams Jr. said. All three schools will be looking to have several more recruits sign before the academic calendar comes to an end, but for now, they celebrate those who made their decisions on Wednesday.
